Canon Looking to Go Social With an Online Photo Community

In a recent customer survey from Canon USA, current Canon owners were asked about their interest in a paid membership program from Canon USA. Based on Canon’s questions, this appears to be more targeted toward enthusiasts rather than professionals.

The survey began with the usual categorical questions about types and models of cameras, and then it jumped into questions about other online photo communities like Flickr, SmugMug and Facebook. Then Canon popped the big question:

Would you be interested in joining a camera/photography club that is run by Canon?

Canon USA finished out the survey by asking about several other options relating to types of activities and whether or not we would be willing to pay for access to such a community.

Of course, it’s not a “for sure” thing that this will come to pass. For now, it’s only clear that Canon is looking into developing its own photo community.

If you’re interested, you can see the rest of the questions in the gallery below.

Would you participate in something like this from Canon? What kind of features would you like to see in Canon’s official photo community?

Wow. I suppose I could be interested in both joining AND paying, but it would depend greatly upon what they offered in return.

To be frank, I really cannot see what they could offer that I can’t find (often for free) strewn across the Internet. There are tons of high quality, well-known sites which offer courses, webinars, tutorials, etc. I think Canon would have to bring something really special to the relationship.

But what I would like to see are courses/tutorials/webinars on how to get the most out of one’s given camera. I’m certain I’m not using my 40D to it’s fullest simply because I haven’t thought of ways to take advantage of some settings, etc.

And some courses, etc. on how to take advantage of certain more specialized lenses (like their 70-200mm or any of the macros) would be great.

Ultimately getting the most out of my Canon equipment would be a great place for Canon to start.